Major League Baseball has sent out invites for a special event in Maryland on December 5.

The league says a "groundbreaking partnership" announcement will be made.

There's a very good chance Under Armour (UA-1.9%) will be in the thick of the action. Previous reports indicated that the Baltimore-based company was on the verge of replacing VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) as the MLB game uniform provider.

Results from Fossil (FOSL+5.3%) and Ralph Lauren (RL+8.2%) that came in ahead of some beat-down expectations are helping to provide a lift to other names in the apparel sector. The rally is focused primarily on higher-end sellers.

"We are downgrading shares of VFC (NYSE:VFC) from Buy to Hold, with our more neutral stance here predicated on our belief that current premium valuation reflect positives to the story, while not discounting some increasing fundamental risks, which combined, largely neutralizes risk/reward."

The retail sector stays in focus next week with Target (NYSE:TGT), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX), and Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) all due to report on Q1 earnings to follow on a week of dismal reports and guidance from the department store sector (Nordstrom,L Brands, Macy's, Kohl's). Home improvement chains Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) are also due to spill numbers.

The story from the Commerce Department's April read of retail sales (+3.0% Y/Y, +1.3% M/M) is one of a consumer spending on housing, entertainment, and personal care/fitness over apparel and general merchandise. The 10% Y/Y gain in the nonstore retailer category also tipped that the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Effect is magnifying.

Magoon on retail: "Traditional retailers face the headwinds of higher cost structures including the very real threat of increasing wages in the form of the $15 minimum wage campaign. Less flexible with inventory management, they also are more vulnerable to issues like weather and changing consumer preferences."